Baltic ice

This Envisat image captures ice covering parts of the Gulf of Bothnia (top), the Gulf of Finland (middle right) and the Gulf of Riga (bottom right) last week. At the time this image was acquired - 19 April 2011 - there was ice as thick as 50-80 cm in the northern part of the Bay of Bothnia off Finland’s western coast. The central and southern Bay of Bothnia was reported to have ice cover as thick as 30–70 cm.

Visible in the image (clockwise from bottom left) are parts of Sweden, Finland (top right), Russia (top and centre left), Estonia and Latvia (bottom right). The Swedish islands of Öland and Gotland are visible at the bottom.